Being a parent has never been easy. But it has become vastly more complicated in the digital age. The internet has forever changed the world. And the rise of social media in the last two decades has made parenting a lot more complex and difficult at times. Social media has become a staple for many members of the younger generations.
There is a lot of debate surrounding the efficacy of allowing children access to social media. The prevailing consensus is that social media is extremely unhealthy and it is dangerous to allow children access to the platforms. While others claim that it can be a very nurturing and positive space for children.
Both sides of the argument have their valid points. And we would say that allowing your children onto social media is fine as long as you moderate how much time they can spend on it. And also moderate what content they are consuming. But this second part is far easier said than done. The first step is finding out which social media sites are actually child friendly. And that is what we are going to be doing here.
TikTok
While TikTok is not the most popular social media platform out there, it is undoubtedly the one with the biggest percentage of young users. Amongst the younger generations, TikTok is everything! And we have no doubt that your own children will likely want to use TikTok.
TikTok does recommend that only people aged 13 and up use the platform. And we would agree with their assessment. The main issue with TikTok is that it has become filled with a lot of mature content. And unlike some other platforms where you have to actively select what content you wish to see, TikTok will often slip inappropriate content into a user’s feed.
But this can be avoided by using the parental control features the app offers. This allows you to better control your child’s access to the app. Including limiting their screen time and stopping them from searching for specific content. So as long as you are being wary and vigilant then TikTok is absolutely safe for your child to use.
Reddit is quite unique amongst social media platforms in that it doesn’t feature a lot of the hallmarks that usually define the medium. The site is essentially free of influencers. There isn’t an emphasis on amassing followers. And people don’t post things directly on their own profile.
Instead Reddit is split up into subreddits. Small communities created by users. Each subreddit is dedicated to a specific topic. The website uses an open forum style of communication. Users can make posts in subreddits and then the community can comment on said posts. The popularity of a post or comment is tracked by upvotes or downvotes. This voting system allows users to express their opinions without the need for actively commenting. And it also allows moderators to better find troubling content.
Reddit is also one of the safest ways for your children to advertise their Twitch streams if they are into that. Services like rupvote.com can help them get ahead without exposing them to any of the more unsavoury or predatory agents you might find while marketing on Instagram or TikTok.
Reddit doesn’t have any inbuilt parental control like TikTok. But there are plenty of third party apps that will allow you to monitor what your children are getting up to on the app. But the good thing about Reddit is that it often only shows you content from subreddits you are following. Or from similar subreddits to those you already follow. Meaning it is extremely difficult to find inappropriate content without actively searching for it.
So we would say that Reddit is potentially child friendly, providing you take the time to install some third party parental control apps and carefully monitor which subreddits they are viewing. The recommended age requirement for Reddit is 13 and over. And we think this is a good guideline to follow.
Instagram is a bit better than TikTok when it comes to hiding inappropriate content. Although there have been a few instances over the last two years where the algorithm shows inappropriate content for a day. Meta confirmed this is a bug and they are actively working to handle it.
Instagram does come with inbuilt parental controls. Which is especially useful as Instagram has a bit more of a direct communication style than TikTok or Reddit. It is all too easy for children to fall victim to scams or grooming through social media platforms like Instagram. So it is vital that you monitor their massaging activity where possible.
Like Reddit and TikTok, the recommended age for Instagram is 13 and over. And we do believe this is a good guideline to follow. But we would also suggest maybe waiting until your children are 14 or even 15 before allowing them access to the platform.